Decembee 4, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



827 



REPORTS OF PROGRESS. 



The Index to the Mineral Waters of the 

 "World, by Dr. Alfred Tuckerman, noticed 

 in previous reports, has been completed and 

 accepted for publication by the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



The manuscript of a new edition of the 

 ' Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Peri- 

 odicals, 1665-1882,' by Dr. H. Carrington 

 Bolton, has been completed and is now going 

 through the press. The new edition will 

 be issued by the Smithsonian Institution 

 as a volume of the Miscellaneous Collec- 

 tions. The bibliography includes chemical 

 journals, and is brought down to the year 

 1895. 



Dr. Bolton reports progress on a supple- 

 ment to his ' Select Bibliography of Chem- 

 istry, 1492-1892,' the printing of which is, 

 however, postponed. 



Prof. James Lewis Howe reports the 

 completion of the manuscript of an Index 

 to the Literature of Platinum and its Com- 

 pounds; this will be presented to the 

 Chemical Section at the same session with 

 this report. 



Prof. F. P. Venable has completed an 

 Index to the Literature of the Periodic 

 Law. It accompanies his ' Development of 

 the Periodic Law,' published by the Chem- 

 ical Publishing Co., Easton, Pa. 



WORKS IN PREPARATION. 



Dr. Alexis A. Julien has no less than 

 three bibliographical works well advanced : 



(1) A Bibliography of Sand (including 

 chemical analysis, etc.). 



(2) A Bibliography of Pedesis, or the 

 Brownian movement. 



(3) A Bibliography of the Condensation 

 of Gases on the surface of Solids. 



Dr. Arthur C. Langmuir is engaged on an 

 Index to the Literature of Zirconium. 



Mr. George Wagner, of the University 

 of Kansas, has undertaken an Index to the 

 Literature of Oxygen, on a large scale. In 



this work he will have the counsel of Prof. 

 Albert B, Prescott. 



Dr. C. H. Joiiet has the manuscript of an 

 Index to the Literature of Thorium well 

 advanced towards completion. 



Prof. Kudolph A. Witthaus has compiled 

 a Bibliography of Forensic Toxicology, 

 which will appear in Vol. iv. of Witthaus 

 and Becker's Medical Jurisprudence, New 

 York, 1896. 



The Journal of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry announces a Collective Index for 

 the whole series, 1881-1895. This is to be 

 ready in 1896 and will form a volume of 

 about 500 pages quarto. 



Attention is called to a plan for facilita- 

 ting bibliographical researches, adopted by 

 the American Pharmaceutical Association. 

 The Research Committee of this Associa- 

 tion employs a reference reader whose duty it 

 is to supply original literature to investiga- 

 tors working in the Committee and with it. 

 A list of the chief serials and a few ency- 

 clopedic works are placed in the hands of 

 those who apply for the services of the 

 reader. Transcripts, abstracts and transla- 

 tions are supplied. The service is chiefly 

 for literature beyond the smaller libraries, 

 and is under the direction of the Chairman 

 of the Committee. 



Perhaps a similar scheme might be organ- 

 ized within the American Association for' 

 the Advancement of Science. 



In conclusion, the Committee on Index- 

 ing Chemical Literature desires to state to 

 those not acquainted with the announce- 

 ments made in the preceding annual reports, 

 that it labors to foster individual under- 

 takings in chemical bibliography, to prevent 

 futile duplication of work, to record in these 

 reports completed bibliographies and new 

 enterprises, as well as to chronicle progress 

 in bibliography in lines bordering on chem- 

 istry. Suggestions as to topics, methods, 

 channels of publication, etc., will be cor- 

 dially furnished by the Committee. Ad- 



